JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Price Target to $17.00

Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) had its price target hoisted by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $13.00 to $17.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 9.32% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Leerink Partners upped their price target on shares of Wave Life Sciences from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Wave Life Sciences from $11.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a research report on Thursday. B. Riley raised their price objective on Wave Life Sciences from $11.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Wave Life Sciences from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.56.

Wave Life Sciences Trading Up 4.4 %

Shares of Wave Life Sciences stock traded up $0.65 during trading on Thursday, reaching $15.55. The stock had a trading volume of 996,410 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,068,566. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $6.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.10. The company has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.90 and a beta of -1.10. Wave Life Sciences has a 52 week low of $3.50 and a 52 week high of $15.92.

Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by ($0.09). Wave Life Sciences had a negative net margin of 66.50% and a negative return on equity of 1,395.99%. The business had revenue of $19.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.20) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Wave Life Sciences will post -1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Wave Life Sciences news, CEO Paul Bolno sold 48,366 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.78, for a total value of $279,555.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 359,059 shares in the company, valued at $2,075,361.02. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Paul Bolno sold 48,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.78, for a total value of $279,555.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 359,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,075,361.02. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Plc Gsk acquired 2,791,930 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.00 per share, for a total transaction of $22,335,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,775,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $134,205,528. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 29.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WVE. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wave Life Sciences during the 2nd quarter valued at about $668,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 39.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,834,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,316,000 after purchasing an additional 521,665 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 62.2% in the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 908,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,531,000 after purchasing an additional 348,300 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Wave Life Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at $174,000. Finally, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Wave Life Sciences by 9.0% in the first quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC now owns 54,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $336,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. 89.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Wave Life Sciences

Wave Life Sciences Ltd., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, designs, develops, and commercializes ribonucleic acid (RNA) medicines through PRISM, a discovery and drug development platform. The company's RNA medicines platform, PRISM, combines multiple modalities, chemistry innovation, and deep insights into human genetics to deliver scientific breakthroughs that treat both rare and prevalent disorders.